For the last 30 years, I have been a faithful and dedicated member of the Republican Party, but now, I am announcing that I am leaving the Republican Party to become an Independent because I can no longer with good conscience remain a member of a political party that is headed by President Donald Trump.

One of the main reasons I have decided to leave the Republican Party is President Donald Trump’s refusal to unequivocally denounce the white supremacist groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), Neo-Nazi and other white hate groups. He refuses to denounce these hateful groups because he believes they are part of his voting base and they helped him to become president. President Trump needs to do what other Republican presidents have done and that is unequivocally denounce white supremacist groups and tell them that he does not want their support and there is no place for them in America.

President Trump needs to know that he is now the head of the party of President Lincoln, who gave his life for black people to be free and equal. President Trump has emboldened and given legitimacy to these white supremacist groups, by the mere fact that he refuses to unequivocally (clearly and plainly) denounce them. Instead of denouncing these white supremacists and the likes of Richard Spencer, the White Nationalist leader, Trump decided to defend them and by doing so, he is substantiating the Democratic Party’s long held erroneous belief that the Republican Party is racist against black people and people of color.

President Trump’s past and present actions and attitude towards black people are causing white people and the Republican Party to become more insensitive to the plight of black people.

An example of such insensitivity, occurred when President Trump picked a fight with the National Football League (NFL), which consists of predominately black players, because a few black players refused to stand for the National Anthem to protest mistreatment of black people and people of color. The players’ protest was never about disrespecting the American flag or showing a lack of patriotism for their country. President Donald Trump attacked black athletes and black sports figures such as: Colin Kaepernick, Steph Curry, Jemele Hill and Marshawn Lynch, but he doesn’t want to attack the white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan members in Charlottesville, Virginia or Judge Roy Moore.

President Trump started a fight with the NFL by calling those few players who refused to stand for the National Anthem “sons of bitches.” Everyone who doesn’t agree with him, he insults by calling them derogatory names. President Donald Trump’s insult of those few black players angered other players in the NFL, causing them to kneel during the National Anthem, which created a problem in the NFL where there was no real problem. Whether we agree or disagree, we all recognize that these black players have a right to exercise their first amendment rights, including freedom of speech.

As a side note, we need to know that black people may have a legitimate reason to avoid standing for the National Anthem. “The Star Spangled Banner” was written by Francis Scott Key, one of the most notorious racists of his day. Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics to “The Star Spangled Banner” in 1814 and President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order designating the song as the National Anthem and in 1931, the U.S. Congress confirmed the decision. Key was as pro-slavery, anti-black and anti-abolitionist as one could be during his era. Key believed that black people were mentally inferior to white people and free blacks should be sent back to Africa.

The last two verses (3rd and 4th) of the National Anthem are not sung because part of the third verse would be offensive to black people. It reads as follows: “Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.”

The racism of the National Anthem stems from the fact that Francis Scott Key was referring to black slaves who had escaped slavery in America to fight for the British Colonial Marines during the War of 1812, in exchange for their freedom. These ex-slaves were also referred to as hirelings. “The Star Spangled Banner” was originally written for free white men, not black people.